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11/1 



Special Report of the Pedigree Committee 



; TO THE: 



BOARD OF DIRECTORS 



;OF THE: 



Percneron Society 
of America 



Regarding Published Charges Concerning the Society 



ISSUED OCTOBER 3rd, 1911. CHICAGO. ILLINOIS 

BY ORDER OF THE BOARD 



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To the Board of Directors of the Percheron Society of Amer- 
ica, Chicago, Illinois. 

Gentlemen : 
Your Pedigree Committee reports as follows : 

For the past seven months, systematic attacks have 
been made on the Percheron Society of America and its 
officers. These attacks have been made public through cer- 
tain papers, edited by parties who are avowedly hostile to 
the policies of the Percheron Society of America. 

Your Pedigree Committee, in the discharge of its duty, 
under the By-laws of the Society, has made a thorough in- 
vestigation of these attacks and the reasons for the same. 
The results of the investigation of your Committee show 
that the attacks or charges made are either based upon 
typographical errors and technical mistakes, or are false 
and untrue. 

The investigations made by your Committee also show 
that the parties responsible for these attacks do not have 
the welfare of the Percheron Society and the breeders of 
America at heart, but that the underlying motive is the 
desire to gain control of the management of the Percheron 
Society of America. The men responsible for the attacks 
are G. W. Patterson, William Danforth, G. L. Carlson and 
F. B. Graham, and the avowed purpose of these men is to 
break down and destro;y the present Percheron organization. 

PURPOSE OF THE ATTACKS. 
The investigation made by your Committee, shows 
that it is the purpose of these men to continue the 
attacks they are now making, until they succeed in entirely 
overthrowing the present organization of the Percheron 
Society of America. The public attacks so far have been 
largely confined to the President and members of the Ped- 
igree Committee, but the attacking parties have stated re- 
peatedly that they propose to overthrow the entire man- 
agement for wrongs they allege said management have 
permitted to exist; and have stated that every member of 
the Board of Directors is equally to blame with the President 
and members of the Pedigree Committee. 

PAST DIFFICULTIES. 
Your Committee would respectfully call attention to 
the fact that all members of the Percheron Society who are 
familiar with the history of our Organization well under- 
stand that the officers and Board of Directors have had 
many serious difficulties to contend with and overcome dur- 



ing the past few years, on account of rival organizations 
that have existed heretofore. Because of the previous ex- 
istence of various stud books, and the long period of de- 
pression in the horse business, during which there were no 
published records either in France or America, it has been 
most difficult to harmonize these various records since their 
union and consolidation with the Percheron Society of 
America. 

In some cases pedigrees were issued years ago, and 
while the official records clearly show their issuance they 
were not published because of the expense of such publica- 
tion and the belief of the authorities in charge at that time, 
that said publication was not essential. 

It is also known that in a number of cases in the records 
that we fell heir to, we found errors and mistakes of various 
kinds. 

These things are well understood by our older members 
and mention of same is made here only because of the fact 
that some of our new members are not familiar with the 
matters above set forth. 

CONCLUSIONS REACHED BY BOARD LAST YEAR. 

Your Committee would also call attention to the fact 
that the Board of Directors, after the most careful consid- 
eration and after making a thorough examination of all the 
original records, applications and other data that could be 
obtained, reached the conclusion that in most cases these 
pedigrees were genuine and issued in good faith, having the 
signature of the proper officers and the seal of the Society, 
in all cases where it was possible to obtain the original 
certificates. 

The Board deemed it wise and in fact absolutely nec- 
essary that all of these original records should be confirmed 
and left undisturbed; and after the hearing at Washington 
a year ago last June, the Department of Agriculture ac- 
cepted the recommendations made by this Society, and soon 
thereafter the only other Society of recognized standing, 
competing with the Percheron Society of America, joined 
hands with our Society and for the first time in the recent 
history of Percheron registrations, we have a united and 
practically unanimous body of Percheron breeders in the 
United States. 

Your Committee would also call attention to the fact 
that for the past three years or more, we have had as rigid 
registration rules as any breed Society in the United States. 

The Secretary and the members of this Committee have 
been most thorough in their investigations on all doubtful 
applications in order that the records of the Percheron So- 
ciety of America might be free from doubtful registra- 



tions. We have had faith that the policy that has been 
pursued by the present management was approved and be- 
lieved in by a very large majority of the members of the 
Society. 

As evidence that the breeders of the country believe 
in this Association, we cite the fact that since our last 
annual meeting, more than 1,150 breeders have become mem- 
bers of the Percheron Society of America, bringing our total 
membership to more than 4,000 individual breeders, who are 
actively engaged in breeding and distributing America's 
greatest draft horse. 

It is therefore to be regretted that a very few jealous 
and dissatisfied members, in an attempt to gain some per- 
sonal advantages, should endeavor to destroy and break 
down what has been built up during the past nine years by 
the Percheron Society. 

AN ATTEMPT TO DISCREDIT THE RECORDS. 

The evident purpose of this attack is not only to dis- 
credit the oflflcers and Pedigree Committee of this Society, 
but also to discredit the records and pedigrees that the 
breeders of this country have relied upon in the past and 
must necessarily rely upon in their breeding operations in 
the future. 

It would be impracticable for this Committee in the 
space of this report, to go over, in detail, all of the various 
charges that have been made and to enter into detailed ex- 
planations of the various matters that attention is called 
to in the records of the Society. 

As heretofore stated, the parties responsible for the 
published attacks upon the Society, in order to accomplish 
their purpose, have relied upon calling attention to typo- 
graphical errors and technicalities in the published volumes 
and have endeavored to make much capital out of same, 
when the most casual examination of the original records 
in the office of the Society would show their inferences and 
conclusions to be false. They have also resorted to the use 
of apparently false and fraudulent testimony. 

As an illustration of their methods and the extent to 
which they are going in order to make their point, we call 
particular attention to cases as follows : 

TECHNICAL ATTACKS, BASED ON ERRORS APPEAR- 
ING IN THE PRINTED STUD BOOKS. 

Attention has been called to the publication of Touraine 
40953 and Mona 43465, as foaled in the same year (1903) 
out of Nina 20921. This is simply a typographical error, the 
actual foaling date being May 9th, 1902 for Touraine 40953. 



A similar case which hostile parties have tried to make 
much of, is the publication of Bonheur 58175 and Timide 
58168, as both foaled in 1906, out of Minta 53932. Reference 
to the original applications and records shows foaling date 
of Timide 58168 as May 21st, 1905. The error in the stud 
book is due to the mistake of the typist, which was over- 
looked by the proof readers. 

Attention has also been called to the fact that many 
animals have been sold with certificates which showed the 
name of the owner only, name and address of the breeder 
being omitted and an attempt is made to discredit men who 
sold animals with such certificates. The facts are that for 
many years this Society and others, issued certificates 
without giving the breeder's name, if the owner, who paid for 
the transfer, so desired it. This rule was well known and 
a great many men, who had purchased recorded animals, 
had their certificates so written. The breeder's name and 
address was, in all cases, on the original records. The rule 
permitting the omission of the breeder's name on rewritten 
certificates, was revoked last winter. All certificates now 
issued bear name and address of breeder, as well as name 
of owner. 

Errors in the publication of the pedigree of Nellie G. 
48094 and Glendora 48097, have furnished the parties named 
with an excuse for much agitation. Both are shown as 
foaled in 1906 (a month apart) out of Daisy Dell 30927, and 
Nellie G's number is erroneously shown as 48049. The facts 
are that Nellie G^s number is 48094 and her dam is Docia 
Dell 30928, a full sister of Daisy Dell, but three years 
younger. The similarity in the names and the fact that the 
mares were full sisters, led to an error in the original is- 
suance of the pedigree which found its way into print. 

The original applications and the mare cards and official 
books of register, show conclusively the nature of the mis- 
take. The very character of the mistake is in itself proof 
that it is an error. 

An attempt has been made to make capital out of the 
fact that a certain stallion has nine colts recorded to his 
credit, all of which were foaled on May 1, 1905 ; and by in- 
ference it is implied that these must be wrong, as no stal- 
lion could be expected to cover and get safely in foal, nine 
mares in one day. 

The absurdity of the implied charges will be readily 
perceived when it is recognized that mares vary greatly in 
the length of time they carry colts, ranging from ten to 
twelve months in well authenticated cases. A variation of 
ten days or two weeks, either under or over eleven months, 
is so common as to arouse no comment. 



In the light of these facts, the attempt to by inference 
claim something wrong because nine colts are recorded as 
foaled on one day, all sired by one horse, is ridiculous. 

Question has been raised regarding the publication of 
Imogene 22827, in Vol. VII. as foaled May 1st, 1902, when 
the stud books show that she produced foals in 1897 and 
1900. The original application and entries on the official 
books of record show that the mare Imogene 22827 was 
foaled May 1st, 1892, and recorded June 12th, 1899, five 
years before the Percheron Society of America took over 
the original records. The error is again a typographical one, 
which occurred long before the Society secured the original 
records, and the only charge that can be placed against our 
organization is that a proof reader's slip permitted such an 
error to appear in the printed books. Considering the fact 
that the Society was, at the time Vol. VII. was printed, 
laboring under adverse financial conditions, was being bit- 
terly opposed by rival organizations, and was working with 
an insufficient office force, such criticisms are childish. 

Your Committee must again emphasize the fact that 
the long years of depression following 1892 had left the 
horse breeding industry in very bad shape; that thousands 
of pure bred animals had been left unrecorded because val- 
ues were so low and demand so slight that it did not pay 
to record them; and that hundreds of our farmer breeders 
were so hard up, when conditions did change for the better, 
that they at first recorded their animals only as they had 
sale for them, and that as a consequence many animals were 
not recorded until after some younger animals from the 
same dam had been recorded. It also resulted in some 
cases that old mares which had been left unrecorded for 
many years, were recorded with all their direct progeny and 
descendants, at practically one time. 

These conditions were recognized by our stockholders and 
by all breeders, and the rules in force, for the first few years 
after the organization of the Percheron Society, were liberal, 
to permit the farmers and breeders of America, who had 
this unrecorded stock, to have the same properly recorded. 
All registrations were made under these rules and in ac- 
cordance therewith ; and your Committee believe that the 
rules were wise, were just, and were for the best interests 
of the horse breeding industry in America. It is the judg- 
ment of your Committee that the attacks upon our Stud 
Books, are, when fully analyzed, attacks upon the policies 
pursued by the Percheron Society of America since its or- 
ganization ; and that any other man as President would have 
been subject to the same bitter attacks which are now being 
centered on President McMillan. 



FRAUDULENT TESTIMONY. 

Besides attempting to create prejudice against the So- 
ciety and its officers by calling attention to technical errors, 
the men responsible for the attacks have, to the best of our 
knowledge, resorted to securing false and fraudulent state- 
ments, and the publication of the same, in their attempts to 
arouse hostile public sentiment toward the Society and its 
officers. A specific case, which shows an attempt to falsely 
attach blame to a member of our Beard, follows: 

G. W. Patterson and his attorney went to Sylvester 
Egan of Humboldt, South Dakota, about June 6, 1911, and 
secured his signature to two statements which they drew. 
Said statements appear to have been secured from Egan by 
their promise to protect him from prosecution. These signed 
statements were apparently furnished to one of the two pa- 
pers in which attacks have been published, and were pub- 
lished on September 1st, 1911, as follows: 

COPY. 

Humboldt, S. D. 

I, Sylvester Egan of Buffalo Township, Minnehaha 
County, South Dakota, do hereby, on June 6, 1911, 
make the following statement of facts, and to which I 
am willing to make oath. 

That on October 25, 1910, I bought a mare colt, 
color black, with white star in its forehead, foaled in 
the spring of 1910, of and from G. A. Aldrich of Grand 
Meadow Township, in said county, at a public sale, 
paying therefor |87. That I removed said colt to my 
farm in Buffalo Township, where I kept it until about 
April 4, 1911, when I sold it to H. G. McMillan of Rock 
Rapids, la., and consigned it by rail to him at Doon, 
la., for Lakewood, la. 

That I know that said colt was not a full or pure 
blood, or registered Percheron. That all talks and 
negotiations regarding said sales were conducted with 
H. G. McMillan in person; I did not represent it to be 
full blood. Afterwards, at McMillan's request, I signed 
an application for registering said colt as a full blood 
Percheron. 

(Signed) Sylvester Egan. 

Humboldt, S. D. 

I, Sylvester Egan of Buffalo Township, Minnehaha 
County, South Dakota, do hereby make and sign the fol- 
lowing statement which I do affirm to be true. 

That on and for some time prior to April 4, 1911, 
I was the owner of a 1-year old colt, color black, with a 
little white on its left hind foot. It was a grade colt, 



not a full blood, and having no known pedigree. That I 
raised said colt on my farm in said township. Its sire 
was '^'Conde" owned by me and its dam was a Perch- 
eron mare named "Bird" having no pedigree. I sold 
said colt to H. G. McMillan and delivered it to him on 
April 4, 1911. He asked me if I could not "Put papers 
on the colt, as you have full blood mares." I did not 
represent the colt to be a full blood, but I hastily and 
on his suggestion, signed an application for register- 
ing said colt as a full blood and gave it to McMillan. 
Had I more time to think about it, I would have re- 
fused to have done so. I regret what I did. 

{Signed) Sylvester Egan. 
June 6, 1911. 
Your Committee has investigated the above statements 
and finds that they are apparently false. The facts are set 
forth in an affidavit made September 23rd, 1911, by Sylvester 
Egan. 

COPY. 

State of South Dakota, Minnehaha County, ss : 

I, Sylvester Egan, on oath, state that I live in Buffalo 
Township, Minnehaha County, South Dakota. My attention 
being called to a statement signed by me dated June 6, 1911, 
and published in the Stallion and Jack News under date 
of September 1, 1911. I desire to say with reference to 
said published statement that the latter part thereof is in- 
correct and untrue, in which I am made to say that H. G. 
McMillan asked me if I could not "put papers on the colt, 
as you have full blood mares." And wherein I was made 
to say that "I did not represent the colt to be full blood, 
but I hastily, and on his (Mr. McMillan's) suggestion, signed 
an application for registering said colt as a full blood." 

The truth is, I went to Lakewood Farm, to buy a stallion 
of Mr. McMillan on March 30, 1911, and bought a stallion 
of him on that day, and as part payment therefor traded 
in two yearling Percheron colts, one a stallion and the 
other a filly. At the time this trade was made, Mr. McMil- 
lan asked me if these colts were registered colts, and I told 
him they were. The fact is, I secured the blank forms of 
application for the registration of these colts and filled them 
out myself more than two weeks before I went to Mr. Mc- 
Millan's farm to buy a horse, and I sent these applications 
to the Secretary of the Percheron Society of America at 
Chicago myself, on or about the 13th day of March, 1911. 
That I had not seen Mr. McMillan or had any communica- 
tion with him for a year or more prior to the time I was at 
his farm March 30th, 1911. That he made no suggestion 
to me whatever concerning the registration of these colts, 



as the applications had been sent in more than two weeks 
before I was at his farm. He asked me at the time I made 
the trade if the colts were registered and what horse they 
were sired by and I told him they were sired by Mr. P. W. 
Moir's stallion, of Orange City, Iowa, and I stated that I 
would send him the pedigrees for the colts when I shipped 
them to him and that on or about April 4, 1911, I shipped 
him the two colts and sent him the pedigrees by mail. That 
the statement in the Stallion and Jack News that I made 
out an application at his (McMillan's) suggestion and sent 
it to him is incorrect and untrue. I did not understand 
that the statement which I signed contained a statement 
to this effect. I further state that I was induced to sign 
this statement by Mr. G. W. Patterson of Worthington, 
Minn., and his Attorney, E. H. Canfield, of Luverne, Minn. 
They came to my farm and asked me concerning these colts 
that I had sold to Mr. McMillan and I told them that they 
were grade colts, but that I had made out applications for 
them myself and furnished Mr. McMillan with pedigrees for 
these colts. 

They induced me to sign the statement published in 
the Stallion and Jack News by representing to me that I 
was liable to a serious prosecution for what I had done and 
that if I would sign the statement that they wanted me to 
sign, that they would protect me from any prosecution or 
harm that might come to me by reason of my selling Mr. 
McMillan the two grade colts as pure breds and furnish 
ing him with pedigrees. That they stated to me that they 
did not want to do me any harm, but that they were after 
McMillan. 

(Signed) Sylvester Eg an. 

Subscribed and sworn to before me by Sylvester Egan 
this 23rd day of September, 1911. 

(Signed) C. H. Peterson, 
[seal] 

Notary Public in and for Minnehaha County, South 
Dakota. 

The statements set forth in Mr. Egan's Affidavit are cor- 
roborated by the Records of the Office, as shown by the fol- 
lowing Affidavit from the Secretary : 

I, Wayne Dinsmore, Secretary of the Percheron So- 
ciety of America, hereby swear that three applications for 
registration of colts foaled in 1910, were received at the of- 
fice of the Percheron Society of America, March 15th, 1911, 
from Sylvester Egan of Humboldt, South Dakota; that the 
date when such applications were received is shown fully 
by the "receiving date" stamp and by the entries in the cash 
book; that said applications were properly made out, were 
signed by Sylvester Egan and were accompanied by trans- 

8 



fers of the dams of said colts. These transfers were prop- 
erly signed by P. W. Moir, who sold Egan the Percheron 
mares, represented to be the dams of said colts and con- 
tained certificates of service to his stallion. As transfers 
and applications were in proper form, and foaling dates 
tallied correctly with service dates, the applications were 
accepted, certificates issued on same for Comet 76216, 
Topel 76217 and Opel 76218, and mailed to Sylvester Egan 
at Humboldt, South Dakota. 

(Signed) Wayne Dinsmorb, 

Secretary. 

Subscribed and sworn to before me, this 25th day of 
September, 1911. 

(Signed) Belle Blue. 
(Seal.) Notary Public. 

The preceding statements, written by G. W. Patterson, 
or by his Attorney, signatures to which were secured from 
Egan, when compared with the actual facts in the cas^ 
shown in Egan's afifldavit and by the official records, speak 
for themselves; and the publications of these statements in 
publications having postal privileges, together with the wide 
distribution of free copies of the same shows a deliberate 
attempt to discredit the Society and its officers. 

Your Committee finds that there is no doubt but that 
Egan did record two grade colts as pure breds, and proper 
attention will be given to his case; but the evidence shows 
conclusively that McMillan did not have any knowledge of 
this. Egan also states that he has led to record these colts 
as pure breds, by reason of the fact that two pure bred 
mares he bought of Moir, supposed to be in foal, did not 
prove to be, and he felt aggrieved and recorded these grade 
colts, as out of the pure bred mares, with a view to working 
them off on Moir, but before going there went to Lakewood 
farms with results as stated above. 

The evidence just recited goes to show that there was 
a plan to discredit the Society through one of its officers. 
ERRONEOUS REPRESENTATIONS. 

Among the representations made is one in which it is 
claimed that a certain suit was filed against the President 
of the Society, by the Department of Agriculture, a year 
ago last June, and that the President improperly persuaded 
the Society to furnish all the money necessary to defend 
the case. 

The truth is that a complaint was filed by the Depart- 
ment of Agriculture at Washington, alleging irregular reg- 
istrations of some 283 horses, a number of which were im- 
ported horses. In the entire list that was involved, Presi- 
dent McMillan was only interested in three and these were 
horses he had not bred or recorded himself. 



By direction of the Board, a Committee was appointed 
to go to Washington and take charge of this case. The 
Committee being composed of the following Directors: H. 
G. McMillan, C. O. Keiser, J. C. Robison, C .M. Jones, J. 
L. Delancey and A. P. Nave. By a resolution of the Board, 
the expenses of the Committee were paid by the Society. At 
the hearing at Washington, McMillan was simply paid ac- 
tual expenses the same as the other Directors on the Com- 
mittee. The hearing resulted in a complete vindication of 
the position taken by the Society, and as heretofore stated, 
the recommendation made at the hearing by the Percheron 
Society was adopted by the Agricultural Department. 

THE PATTERSON INJUNCTION. 

Wide publicity has recently been given to an injunction 
which was served on the Directors of the Percheron Society 
of America, September 16th, 1911, by Attorneys acting for 
G. W. Patterson and to a suit in equity filed by him. 

The facts are that an affidavit charging Mr. Patterson 
with fraud in exhibiting his horses at the Iowa State Fair 
in 1907 has been in the possession of your Committee for 
some time. This Committee has investigated all charges 
that have been filed against members and referred same to 
the Board for Action and all cases of this kind have been 
disposed of, save the Patterson case. In view of this fact, 
it seemed desirable that this case should also be disposed 
of and your Committee accordingly made an investigation 
for the purpose of arriving at the truth in the case. As a re- 
sult of said inquiries the following affidavits were filed : 

COPY. 

We, the undersigned members of the firm of Finch 
Bros., hereby swear that at the Iowa State Fair, held in 
1907, G. W. Patterson of the Patterson-Erickson Co., 
borrowed two yearling Percheron fillies from us, and 
exhibited them as his own. 

The fillies in question were Gracieuse 51269 (71308) 
and Giosa 51268 (71624), and could not be shown by 
our firm because they had not been entered. G. W. Pat- 
terson borrowed them and exhibited them under the 
names of Sybil 46789 and Devilla 46787, and left his own 
fillies, which were entered under these names, in the 
barn. 

The animals were loaned to G. W. Patterson him- 
sslf. We, the undersigned, were both in the ring when 

10 



the fillies were shown and know that Mr. Patterson was 
present, and that the exhibition of the animals under 
false pretenses was done with his full knowledge and 
active participation in said exhibition. One of these 
fillies won second place. 

We, the undersigned members of the firm of Finch 
Bros., knew that this transaction was irregular and 
fraudulent, but on account of the fact that said G. W. 
Patterson was superintendent of the Draft Horse show 
at the Minnesota State Fair, where we were to show the 
following week, did not feel disposed to refuse his re- 
quest for temporary use of the fillies as his own. 

(Signed) Chas. A. Finch. 
Subscribed and sworn to before me this 31st day of 
July, 1911. 

(Signed) Belle Blub, Notary Public. 
[seal] 

(Signed) J. P. Finch. 

Subscribed and sworn to before me this 3d day of 
August, 1911. 
[seal] 

(Signed) Wm. W. Corris, Notary Public. 

I, J. F. Pallister of Verona, 111,, hereby swear that 
I was employed by the Patterson-Erickson Co. of Worth- 
ington, Minn., for a time during the summer of 1907 to 
help fit their Percheron horses for exhibition. I left 
their employ three or four weeks before the opening of 
the Iowa State Fair, and entered the employ of H. G. 
McMillan & Sons of Rock Rapids, Iowa, whom I had 
agreed to help during the State Fair season. At the 
Iowa State Fair, 1907, I exhibited the yearling filly 
Adelaide 50646 for McMillan & Sons, and noticed, when 
the Patterson-Erickson Co. lead their yearling fillies into 
the ring, that they were not the yearlings they had been 
fitting for the show when I was in their employ, but 
were much better fillies. I asked Erickson then where 
he secured the fillies, and he answered curtly that they 
had been out on the other farm. One of the animals 
won second, and as soon as I conveniently could (on the 
same day) I made inquiries and ascertained that the 
fillies which Patterson-Erickson Co. had exhibited 
were in fact the property of Finch Bros, and that the 
fillies actually entered at the Iowa State Fair by Pat- 
terson-Erickson Co. had been left in the barn while the 
showing was in progress. I furthermore swear that 
G. W. Patterson was in the ring while these fillies were 
being shown. 

11 



(Signed) J. F. Pallister. 
Signed and sworn to before me this 3rd day of 
August, 1911. 

(Signed) Wm. W. Corris, Notary Public. 
[seal] 
By the action recited Mr. Patterson won money from 
the Iowa State Fair, and from the Percheron Society; and 
it appears that he thereby also caused his filly, Sybil 46789, 
to be published to Percheron breeders as a winner in the 
Percheron Society specials at the Iowa State Fair, when 
it seems that she did not leave the barn. Inasmuch as it 
was by virtue of Mr. Patterson's membership in the Perch- 
eron Society that his entries in the Percheron Society spe- 
cials were allowed, the case clearly comes within the juris- 
diction of the Society and the inquiry was made. 

Other information received by your Committee cor- 
roborated the statements made in the affidavits. The matter 
was accordingly referred to the Board and G. W. Patterson 
was given proper notice to appear and show cause why he 
should not be dealt with as our By-laws provide. 

PATTERSON RESORTS TO COURTS IN ATTEMPT TO 
OVER-RULE THE BY-LAWS AND PRE- 
VENT TRIAL OF HIS CASE. 

Instead of appearing he served an injunction on the 
Members of the Board, restraining them from taking any 
action or hearing said case. 

CLAIMS SOCIETY HAS NO JURISDICTION OVER 

HIS CASE. 

He further sets forth that the charges against him, even 
if true, do not render him liable to action on the part of the 
Percheron Society, thus attempting to interpose a technical 
defense. The question at issue, therefore, appears to be 
whether a member has the right to win, by misrepresenta- 
tion, money prizes ofifered by the Percheron Society and at 
the same time successfully deny the jurisdiction of the So- 
ciety to try such a case. 

CHARGES CANNOT BE HEARD OR ACTED UPON. 

Your Committee, therefore, reports that although direct 
charges affecting Mr. Patterson's standing as a member are 
on file, no action can be taken until the temporary writ of 
injunction is dissolved. Inasmuch as wide publicity has 
been given to the injunction, your Committee deems it wise 
to incorporate the above review of the case, in this report, 
in order that there may be an official record of the same. 

12 



WORK OF PEDIGREE COMMITTEE. 

The members of the Board of Directors, and our mem- 
bers, may draw their own conclusion as to Mr. Patterson's 
reasons for charging Mr. McMillan and members of this 
Committee with fraud. Inasmuch as the other members of 
the Board may not realize how persistently and steadily the 
Pedigree Committee has worked, attention is respectfully 
called to the fact, that, during the last two years no less 
than twenty meetings of the Committee have been held, over 
300 doubtful applications rejected, and four extended field 
investigations made. As a result of our work one firm has 
been debarred from recording any American bred stock and 
restrictions laid upon its other business. Another firm 
detected in attempted irregularities, has been fined $200.00 
and placed under strict restrictions on all future business, 
said restrictions requiring the firm in question to report all 
future colts before four months old (before they are weaned) 
and to pay the expenses of having same inspected at side 
of dam, by an authorized representative of the Society. Still 
another case, where the evidence indicated to the Committee 
that a certain party's statements were unworthy of credence, 
was handled in the same way. Every specific case on which 
charges have been filed, has been given proper attention. 

Not a single charge has ever heen filed against any of 
the present members of Boards and since the publication 
of these statements, Messrs. Patterson, Graham, Danforth 
and Carlson have all been called upon for specific charges, 
backed by proper evidence, by investigators employed by 
the Pedigree Committee, and all have refused, or been un- 
able, to submit a single specific case. 

Attempts to discredit our Records unwarranted, inequitable 
and injurious to public interests. 

In conclusion your Pedigree Committee would respect- 
fully call attention to the following facts : 

The present management of this Society has believed 
and still believes in the policy of building up, rather than 
tearing down. For several years past, we have been pro- 
viding additional rules governing the registration of animals 
with a view of placing every safeguard possible around the 
registration of animals and the issuance of pedigrees. 

We now require that animals be recorded at a young 
age, we require transfers of mares, and in many other ways 
is every effort possible made to verify applications before 
pedigrees are issued. 

In accordance with the policy of the present manage- 
ment of the Society, we are making this report of the con- 
ditions that prevail and recommend putting same in print, 
in order that every stockholder may be fully informed con- 

13 



cerning all matters in which he may be interested. 

This Society is composed of over four thousand stock- 
holders, who are farmers and breeders throughout the United 
States and Canada. The records of the Society belong to 
these stockholders and they are the men who are interested 
in maintaining them. It is for that reason that your Com- 
mittee has deemed it wise to place these facts so fully 
before the stockholders in order that they may have full 
opportunity to know the truth and act intelligently at the 
next Annual Meeting and future meetings that they attend. 

In conclusion, this committee has worked conscien- 
tiously to enforce the rules laid doAvn in our By-laws, and 
has enforced same without fear or favor, treating all mem- 
bers alike. 

Kespectfully submitted. 



Members of the 
Pedigree Committee. 



/^^.<^^^ (xA-<n-n.^ 




Printed and distributed by order of the Board of Direc- 
tors of the Percheron Society of America. 



Attest ; 




,H:^AAAAAM>&M^ 



Secretary. 



U 



